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Missouri Senate Bill SJR3

Missouri 2025 Regular Session

Missouri Senate Bill SJR3 Compare Versions

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22 EXPLANATION-Matter enclosed in bold-faced brackets [thus] in this bill is not enacted
33 and is intended to be omitted in the law.
44 FIRST REGULAR SESSION
55 SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 3
66 103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY
77 INTRODUCED BY SENATOR O'LAUGHLIN.
88 0905S.01I KRISTINA MARTIN, Secretary
99 JOINT RESOLUTION
1010 Submitting to the qualified voters of Missouri, an amendment repealing sections 8, 19, 25(a),
1111 25(c)(1), 25(d), and 25(f) of article V of the Constitution of Missouri, and adopting
1212 eleven new sections in lieu thereof relating to judges.
1313
1414 Be it resolved by the Senate, the House of Representatives concurring therein:
1515 That at the next general electi on to be held in the 1
1616 state of Missouri, on Tuesday next following the first Monday 2
1717 in November, 2026, or at a special election to be called by 3
1818 the governor for that purpose, there is hereby submitted to 4
1919 the qualified voters of this state, for adoption or 5
2020 rejection, the following amendment to article V of the 6
2121 Constitution of the state of Missouri:7
2222 Section A. Sections 8, 19, 25(a), 25(c)(1), 25(d), and 1
2323 25(f), article V, Constitution of Missouri, are repealed and 2
2424 eleven new sections adopted in l ieu thereof, to be known as 3
2525 sections 1(a), 8, 19, 25(a), 25(c)(1), 25(c)(3), 25(c)(4), 4
2626 25(c)(5), 25(c)(6), 25(d), and 25(f), to read as follows:5
2727 Section 1(a). 1. Judges of the supreme court, the 1
2828 chief justice of the supreme court, and judges of th e court 2
2929 of appeals shall be elected in nonpartisan elections. 3
3030 2. The election of judges derives from the principle 4
3131 that all political power is vested in and derived from the 5
3232 people, and all government of right originates from the 6
3333 people, is founded upon their will only, and is instituted 7
3434 solely for the good of the whole. Judges shall therefore be 8 SJR 3 2
3535 accountable to the citizens of this state, this 9
3636 constitution, and the Constitution of the United States, and 10
3737 not beholden to any particular associat ion or alliance of 11
3838 lawyers, judges, or interest groups. To accomplish this 12
3939 purpose, as set forth in sections 25(a) -(g), judges of the 13
4040 supreme court, the chief justice of the supreme court, and 14
4141 judges of the court of appeals shall be elected in 15
4242 nonpartisan elections, and shall no longer be selected by 16
4343 the governor from nominations made by commissions of 17
4444 lawyers, judges, and the governor's appointees. Voters 18
4545 shall continue to have the ability to choose the method by 19
4646 which circuit and associate circ uit judges are selected as 20
4747 provided in section 25(b). Section 1(a) and sections 25(a) - 21
4848 (g) of this constitution shall be known as the "Missouri 22
4949 Nonpartisan Court Plan". 23
5050 Section 8. The [judges of the supreme court shall 1
5151 elect from their number a] chief justice [to] of the supreme 2
5252 court shall preside over the court en banc, and the judges 3
5353 of the court of appeals in each district shall elect from 4
5454 their number a chief judge of the district. The terms of 5
5555 the [chief justice and] chief judges shall be fixed by the 6
5656 courts over which they preside. The chief justice of the 7
5757 supreme court shall be the chief administrative officer of 8
5858 the judicial system and, subject to the supervisory 9
5959 authority of the supreme court, shall supervise the 10
6060 administration of the courts of this state. 11
6161 Section 19. Judges of the supreme court [and], the 1
6262 chief justice of the supreme court, judges of the court of 2
6363 appeals [shall be selected for terms of twelve years ], and 3
6464 judges of the circui t courts shall be selected for terms of 4
6565 six years, and associate circuit judges for terms of four 5
6666 years. No supreme court judge, supreme court chief justice, 6 SJR 3 3
6767 or court of appeals judge shall be elected to a particular 7
6868 judicial seat for more than two co nsecutive terms. 8
6969 Section 25(a). Whenever a vacancy shall occur in the 1
7070 office of [judge of any of the following courts of this 2
7171 state, to wit: The supreme court, the court of appeals, or 3
7272 in the office of] circuit or associate circuit j udge within 4
7373 the city of St. Louis and Jackson county, the governor shall 5
7474 fill such vacancy by appointing one of three persons 6
7575 possessing the qualifications for such office, who shall be 7
7676 nominated and whose names shall be submitted to the governor 8
7777 by a nonpartisan judicial commission established and 9
7878 organized as hereinafter provided. If the governor fails to 10
7979 appoint any of the nominees within sixty days after the list 11
8080 of nominees is submitted, the nonpartisan judicial 12
8181 commission making the nominati on shall appoint one of the 13
8282 nominees to fill the vacancy. Whenever a vacancy shall 14
8383 occur in the office of judge of the supreme court, chief 15
8484 justice of the supreme court, or judge of the court of 16
8585 appeals, it shall be promptly filled pursuant to section 4 17
8686 of article IV of this constitution and such appointee shall 18
8787 hold office for the remainder of the vacating judge's term. 19
8888 Section 25(c)(1). Each judge appointed to the office 1
8989 of circuit or associate circuit judge pursuant to the 2
9090 provisions of sections 25(a) -(g) shall hold office for a 3
9191 term ending December thirty -first following the next general 4
9292 election after the expiration of twelve months in the 5
9393 office. Any circuit or associate circuit judge holding 6
9494 office, or elected thereto , at the time of the election by 7
9595 which the provisions of sections 25(a) -(g) become applicable 8
9696 to his office, shall, unless removed for cause, remain in 9
9797 office for the term to which he would have been entitled had 10
9898 the provisions of sections 25(a) -(g) not become applicable 11 SJR 3 4
9999 to his office. Not less than sixty days prior to the 12
100100 holding of the general election next preceding the 13
101101 expiration of his term of office, any circuit or associate 14
102102 circuit judge whose office is subject to the provisions of 15
103103 sections 25(a)-(g) may file in the office of the secretary 16
104104 of state a declaration of candidacy for election to succeed 17
105105 himself. If a declaration is not so filed [by any judge], 18
106106 the vacancy resulting from the expiration of his term of 19
107107 office shall be filled by appointment as herein provided. 20
108108 If such declaration is filed, his name shall be submitted at 21
109109 said next general election to the voters eligible to vote 22
110110 [within the state if his office is that of judge of the 23
111111 supreme court, or within the geographic jur isdiction limit 24
112112 of the district where he serves if his office is that of a 25
113113 judge of the court of appeals, or ] within the circuit if his 26
114114 office is that of circuit judge, or within the county if his 27
115115 office is that of associate circuit judge on a separate 28
116116 judicial ballot, without party designation, reading: 29
117117 30 "Shall Judge __________________
118118 31
119119 32
120120 (Here the name of the judge shall be
121121 inserted)
122122
123123 33
124124 34 of the __________________
125125 35
126126 36
127127 (Here the title of the court shall be
128128 inserted)
129129
130130 37
131131 38 be retained in office? Yes □ No □
132132 39 (Mark an "X" in the box you prefer.)" SJR 3 5
133133 If a majority of those voting on the question vote against 40
134134 retaining him in office, upon the expiration of his term of 41
135135 office, a vacancy shall exist which shall be filled by 42
136136 appointment as provided in section 25(a); otherwise, said 43
137137 judge shall, unless removed for cause, remain in office for 44
138138 the number of years after December thi rty-first following 45
139139 such election as is provided for the full term of such 46
140140 office, and at the expiration of each such term shall be 47
141141 eligible for retention in office by election in the manner 48
142142 here prescribed. 49
143143 Section 25(c)(3). Judges of the supreme court and of 1
144144 the court of appeals shall be elected at the general 2
145145 election by the voters eligible to vote within the appellate 3
146146 district of the seat being elected as set forth in sections 4
147147 25(c)(4) and 25(c)(5). Except as set forth in section 5
148148 25(a), each judge of the supreme court, chief justice of the 6
149149 supreme court, and judge of the court of appeals shall hold 7
150150 office for a term expiring December thirty -first in the 8
151151 sixth year after his or her election. The provisions of 9
152152 sections 25(c)(1) and 25(c)(2) shall not apply to supreme 10
153153 court judges, the supreme court chief justice, or court of 11
154154 appeals judges. 12
155155 Section 25(c)(4). Judges of the supreme court and the 1
156156 chief justice of the supreme court shall be elected as 2
157157 follows: If the general assembly has provided by law for 3
158158 three appellate districts, the chief justice of the supreme 4
159159 court shall be elected at large and two judges of the 5
160160 supreme court shall be elected from each court of appeals 6
161161 district by the voter s eligible to vote within that 7
162162 district; if the general assembly has provided by law for 8
163163 more than three appellate districts or the geographical 9 SJR 3 6
164164 boundaries of the districts change such that the following 10
165165 districts cannot be made, then the chief justice of the 11
166166 supreme court shall be elected at large and elections for 12
167167 judges of the supreme court shall be established by law, or 13
168168 if no law timely establishes procedures for such elections, 14
169169 then elections for the chief justice and judges of the 15
170170 supreme court shall be at large. Two judges of the supreme 16
171171 court shall be elected from the court of appeals district 17
172172 which includes the city of St. Louis, with one judge elected 18
173173 in 2028 and every sixth successive year, and with one judge 19
174174 elected in 2030 and eve ry sixth successive year. Two judges 20
175175 of the supreme court shall be elected from the court of 21
176176 appeals district which includes the city of Springfield, 22
177177 with one judge elected in 2028 and every sixth successive 23
178178 year, and with one judge elected in 2032 an d every sixth 24
179179 successive year. Two judges of the supreme court shall be 25
180180 elected from the court of appeals district which includes 26
181181 the city of Kansas City, with one judge elected in 2030 and 27
182182 every sixth successive year, and with one judge elected in 28
183183 2032 and every sixth successive year. The chief justice 29
184184 shall be elected at large in 2032 and every sixth successive 30
185185 year. A supreme court judge shall be a resident of the 31
186186 appellate district from which he or she is elected no later 32
187187 than the day of his or her election. 33
188188 Section 25(c)(5). 1. Those supreme court judges 1
189189 currently holding office as of 5:00 p.m. on December 3, 2
190190 2026, shall not be required to reside in any particular 3
191191 appellate district but on that date shall be assigned a seat 4
192192 designation for purposes of implementing elections and 5
193193 filling vacancies. The seat designations shall be assigned 6
194194 in the following order: Chief justice, judge from the court 7
195195 of appeals district including the city of Kansas City first 8 SJR 3 7
196196 elected in 2032, judge from the court of appeals district 9
197197 including the city of Springfield first elected in 2032, 10
198198 judge from the court of appeals district including the city 11
199199 of St. Louis first elected in 2030, judge from the court of 12
200200 appeals district including the city of Kansas City first 13
201201 elected in 2030, judge from the court of appeals district 14
202202 including the city of Springfield first elected in 2028, and 15
203203 judge from the court of appeals district including the city 16
204204 of St. Louis first elected in 2028. Seats will be assigned 17
205205 to judges who have been retained by voters, starting with 18
206206 the judge most recently retained. For judges retained at 19
207207 the same time, the judge having served the least amount of 20
208208 time on the supreme court shall be assigned first. After 21
209209 all judges who have been retained have been assigned seats, 22
210210 judges who have been appointed shall be assigned, starting 23
211211 with judges most recently appointed. If all judges who have 24
212212 been retained or appointed have been assigned seats, and it 25
213213 appears that one or more of the offices of judge of the 26
214214 supreme court was vacated on or before December 3, 2026, but 27
215215 remained unfilled by the end of that date, these vacancies 28
216216 will be immediately assigned a seat, using the order set 29
217217 forth in this section until all seats are filled, and in 30
218218 assigning seat designations to vacancies, vacancies created 31
219219 by a judge whose last name is first in alphabetical order 32
220220 will have precedence. A seat held by any judge who lost a 33
221221 retention election in the 2026 general election s hall be 34
222222 treated as vacant solely for purposes of assigning a seat 35
223223 under this provision, even though the judge shall hold 36
224224 office until December 31, 2026, and the seat shall be 37
225225 treated as vacant for purposes of section 25(a) on January 38
226226 1, 2027, and thereafter filled under the provisions of 39
227227 section 25(a). 40 SJR 3 8
228228 2. Judges of the court of appeals who were last 41
229229 retained in the 2016 or 2018 general elections, or the 42
230230 successors to vacancies left by such judges, shall be 43
231231 elected in the 2028 general election , court of appeals 44
232232 judges who were last retained in the 2020 or 2022 general 45
233233 elections, or the successors to vacancies left by such 46
234234 judges, shall be elected in the 2030 general election, and 47
235235 court of appeals judges who were last retained in the 2024 48
236236 or 2026 general elections, or the successors to vacancies 49
237237 left by such judges, shall be elected in the 2032 general 50
238238 election. The candidate elected in each such election shall 51
239239 serve for the term prescribed by section 19, and every 52
240240 succeeding six years, a new election shall be held for that 53
241241 judicial office. Judges of the court of appeals first 54
242242 eligible for retention in the 2028 general election under 55
243243 the immediately prior version of section 25(c)(1), which was 56
244244 effective until the end of thirty days after the election 57
245245 adopting this section, shall be elected in the 2028 general 58
246246 election. Any seat held by a court of appeals judge who 59
247247 loses a retention election in the 2026 general election 60
248248 shall be treated as vacant on January 1, 2027, and shall 61
249249 thereafter be filled under the provisions of section 25(a). 62
250250 Any law providing for additional court of appeals seats 63
251251 shall specify the first general election at which the seat 64
252252 shall be filled. 65
253253 3. A vacancy in the office of judge of the supreme 66
254254 court, chief justice of the supreme court, or judge of the 67
255255 court of appeals that opened before the end of thirty days 68
256256 after the election adopting this section but was not yet 69
257257 filled as of that time and date shall be filled by the 70
258258 governor under the provisi ons of section 25(a). 71 SJR 3 9
259259 4. The provisions of this section shall be severable 72
260260 from the remainder of the provisions of section 25(a) -(g). 73
261261 Section 25(c)(6). 1. Elections for the offices of 1
262262 judge of the supreme court, the office of t he chief justice 2
263263 of supreme court, and the offices of judge of the court of 3
264264 appeals shall be nonpartisan elections. No political party 4
265265 shall nominate any candidate for offices of judge of the 5
266266 supreme court, office of chief justice of the supreme court , 6
267267 or offices of judge of the court of appeals, and no primary 7
268268 or general election ballot shall include a party designation 8
269269 for offices of judge of the supreme court, office of chief 9
270270 justice of the supreme court, and offices of judge of the 10
271271 court of appeals. The general assembly shall make no law 11
272272 prohibiting a candidate from declaring himself or herself a 12
273273 supporter of a political party, or prohibiting a political 13
274274 party from declaring its support for a candidate. 14
275275 2. All declarations for candida cy for the offices of 15
276276 judge of the supreme court, the office of chief justice of 16
277277 the supreme court, or the offices of judge of the court of 17
278278 appeals shall be filed in the office of the secretary of 18
279279 state no later than one hundred twenty days before the 19
280280 primary election. A candidate, whether or not an incumbent, 20
281281 shall file such declaration using a form provided by the 21
282282 secretary of state. All declarations shall be accompanied 22
283283 by either a nominating petition or a nomination form. A 23
284284 nominating petition shall have been signed no earlier than 24
285285 one hundred eighty days before the primary election by one 25
286286 hundred voters eligible to vote in the applicable appellate 26
287287 district, or in the case of the chief justice, in the 27
288288 state. A nomination form shall be si gned by all members of 28
289289 the Appellate Judicial Commission no earlier than one 29
290290 hundred eighty days before the primary. The Appellate 30 SJR 3 10
291291 Judicial Commission may issue nomination forms for up to 31
292292 three individuals per race, but it shall not issue a 32
293293 nomination form for any person who files a declaration 33
294294 accompanied by a nominating petition. 34
295295 3. The two candidates receiving the highest number of 35
296296 votes in the primary election shall stand in the general 36
297297 election. The candidate achieving the greatest numb er of 37
298298 votes in the general election shall be elected to the 38
299299 judicial office. 39
300300 4. The primary and general elections for the offices 40
301301 of judge of the supreme court, the office of chief justice 41
302302 of the supreme court, and the offices of judge of the cou rt 42
303303 of appeals shall be held in the same manner as gubernatorial 43
304304 elections to the greatest extent possible for nonpartisan 44
305305 elections, or as otherwise provided by law. Contests to the 45
306306 results of an election under this section, whether on the 46
307307 basis of qualification, irregularity, or other cause, or for 47
308308 recount other than any automatic recount as provided by law 48
309309 shall be heard and determined in the same manner as 49
310310 gubernatorial elections to the greatest extent possible for 50
311311 nonpartisan elections, or as otherwise provided by law. 51
312312 5. The provisions of this section shall be severable 52
313313 from the remainder of the provisions of section 25(a) -(g). 53
314314 Section 25(d). Nonpartisan judicial commissions whose 1
315315 duty it shall be to nominate [and submit to the governor ] 2
316316 names of persons for appointment as provided by sections 3
317317 25(a)-(g) are hereby established and shall be organized on 4
318318 the following basis: For vacancies in the office of judge of 5
319319 the supreme court, chief justice of the supreme cour t, or 6
320320 judge of the court of appeals, there shall be one such 7
321321 commission, to be known as "The Appellate Judicial 8
322322 Commission"; for vacancies in the office of circuit judge or 9 SJR 3 11
323323 associate circuit judge of any circuit court subject to the 10
324324 provisions of sections 25(a)-(g) there shall be one such 11
325325 commission, to be known as "The _________ Circuit Judicial 12
326326 Commission", for each judicial circuit which shall be 13
327327 subject to the provisions of sections 25(a) -(g); the 14
328328 appellate judicial commission shall consist of a judge of 15
329329 the supreme court selected by the members of the supreme 16
330330 court, and the remaining members shall be chosen in the 17
331331 following manner: The members of the bar of this state 18
332332 residing in each court of appeals district shall elect one 19
333333 of their number to serve as a member of said commission, and 20
334334 the governor shall appoint one citizen, not a member of the 21
335335 bar, from among the residents of each court of appeals 22
336336 district, to serve as a member of said commission, and the 23
337337 members of the commission shal l select one of their number 24
338338 to serve as chairman. Each circuit judicial commission 25
339339 shall consist of five members, one of whom shall be the 26
340340 chief judge of the district of the court of appeals within 27
341341 which the judicial circuit of such commission, or th e major 28
342342 portion of the population of said circuit is situated and 29
343343 the remaining four members shall be chosen in the following 30
344344 manner: The members of the bar of this state residing in the 31
345345 judicial circuit of such commission shall elect two of their 32
346346 number to serve as members of said commission, and the 33
347347 governor shall appoint two citizens, not members of the bar, 34
348348 from among the residents of said judicial circuit to serve 35
349349 as members of said commission, the members of the commission 36
350350 shall select one of their number to serve as chairman; and 37
351351 the terms of office of the members of such commission shall 38
352352 be fixed by law, but no law shall increase or diminish the 39
353353 term of any member then in office. No member of any such 40
354354 commission other than a judge shall hold any public office, 41 SJR 3 12
355355 and no member shall hold any official position in a 42
356356 political party. Every such commission may act only by the 43
357357 concurrence of a majority of its members. The members of 44
358358 such commission shall receive no salary or other 45
359359 compensation for their services but they shall receive their 46
360360 necessary traveling and other expenses incurred while 47
361361 actually engaged in the discharge of their official duties. 48
362362 All such commissions shall be administered, and all 49
363363 elections provided for under th is section shall be held and 50
364364 regulated, under such rules as the supreme court shall 51
365365 promulgate. 52
366366 Section 25(f). No judge of any court in this state, 1
367367 appointed to or retained in office in the manner prescribed 2
368368 in sections 25(a)-(g), shall directly or indirectly make any 3
369369 contribution to or hold any office in a political party or 4
370370 organization, or take part in any political campaign , except 5
371371 as provided in sections 25(a) –(g). A judge or judicial 6
372372 candidate may announce his or her views on disputed legal or 7
373373 political issues provided that the judge or judicial 8
374374 candidate does not make pledges or promises to render 9
375375 specific rulings or decisions on pending litigation. A 10
376376 judicial candidate shall be allowed to solicit, receive, and 11
377377 make campaign contributions, and receive and make campaign 12
378378 expenditures for his or her campaign, subject only to laws 13
379379 that enact limits no more restrictive than those applicable, 14
380380 if any, to gubernatorial elections. Nothing in this section 15
381381 shall preclude the application of laws or rules of the 16
382382 supreme court governing judicial participation in specific 17
383383 cases based on a judge's political activity with respect to 18
384384 the subject matter or parties. The provisions of this 19
385385 section shall be severable from the rema inder of the 20
386386 provisions of section 25(a) -(g), except that nothing shall 21 SJR 3 13
387387 prohibit a candidate for the supreme court or for the court 22
388388 of appeals from taking part in his or her own political 23
389389 campaign. 24
390390